For summer 2008, Foxy Production proudly presents BOBO’s ON 27th, a group exhibition masterminded by performance art band Bobo. A simultaneous video-linked exhibition is being held at their space, Bobo’s on 9th, in the Italian Market area of Philadelphia. The two exhibitions, under the joint title Precious Delights, mark Bobo’s on 9th’s first anniversary. Both shows include works by Lindsay Beebe, Matt Berrian, Brent Cowley, Lizzie Fitch, Jesse Greenberg, Barkev Gulesserian, Colt Hausman, Miles Huston, Brian McKelligott, Annie Pearlman, Ben Phelan, PIFAS, and Ted Sefcik, many of whom have presented work at Bobo’s on 9th since its inauguration last year. Ryan Trecartin is exhibiting at Bobo’s on 9th only, making a installation for the space’s front window.

Bobo’s on 27th includes painting, sculpture, sound, video and publications in a riotous mix of colors, styles and materials. Underscored by interests in figuration, the ready-made, deconstruction and assemblage, the artists are generating bold new methods, ideas and aesthetics. Their works draw influences from the Internet, art history, ecology, and emerging definitions of self and community, among many other sources. Bobo have written: “The appearance of the exhibition could be best described as a germed-up concept car interface, burnt and melting. This aesthetic reinforces our existing attention to the corners of rooms where bits of dead skin rest, where the dust mites reside, but also shows our interest in how the human mind is steadily cracking codes at the base of the natural Internet, allowing us to successfully reconfigure it and our perceptions of what is possible at microbiotic and galactic levels. The earth is evolving into a throbbing brain and Bobo is interested in exposing technology as nature and nature as a fully moldable interface.”

Bobo have created artworks, design features and framing devices to push the boundaries and expectations of the role of gallery, curator, artist, and viewer. Their designs are both sectional: membranal wall sculptures and oversized frames made from steel-wool surround works, and environmental: the floor of the gallery is covered in burlap (in reference to the floor designs for previous Bobo shows) and littered with trash-like artworks; the walls are covered in “advertisements” for different pieces in the exhibition; and a specially constructed jukebox plays curated music and sound.

BOBO – Phil Cote (Essex Junction VT, 1983), Drew Gillespie (Kansas City MO, 1982), and Nick Payne (Toronto, Canada, 1982) – started their band, artists’ group and project space in 2007. For more information on Bobo and Bobo’s on 9th see: boboson9th.com Their music can be heard at: myspace.com/bobophiladelphia

Credits
Installation photography by Mark Woods.

• "Bobo's on 27th." Time Out New York. 10-16 July. 2008: 60-63.
• Coburn, Tyler. "Twice as Nice: Bobo's on 9th and 27th." ArtReview. July-Aug. 2008: 26.
• Halter, Ed. "Rhizome News: Junk Rock." rhizome.org. 16 July. 2008. Web.
• Gartenfeld, Alex. "Bobo's on 27th." Artforum. 22 July. 2008. Web.